Copdock and Washbrook Pre-school
GoodBirth to 8+Open for decades
A pre-school in Ipswich for children from birth to 8+, open 08:00 to 18:00, 5 days a week. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in January 2025. Open since 2000, with 18 places.
What you might pay
This setting does not publish its fees, and no national dataset holds them. This is what childcare costs across the council, as a starting point for the call.
What childcare usually costs in Suffolk
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Suffolk from the Department for Education's 2025 provider survey. No national data holds what an individual nursery charges, so ring and ask.
Places, hours and the day
Who they take, when they are open, and what a day there includes.
Where it is
IP8 3LFWhat the inspector found
One grade is one visit. A run of them tells you whether it has been good for years or has only just got there.
- 9 October 2023 — Concern: actions taken what Ofsted published
Ofsted inspector, 16 January 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children happily enter this cosy, inclusive pre-school as the caring and nurturing staff welcome them at the door. Children immediately show a sense of independence and belonging when hanging up their coats on their peg before finding their name card and self-registering their arrival. The management team maintains close relationships with local schools, which supports children's seamless progression to school. Additionally, it offers bespoke settling-in processes and weekly stay-and-play sessions. This means children gradually build attachments with their key persons and feel relaxed and safe in the learning environment that is familiar to them from the start.
Children develop a love for reading as fun-loving staff bring stories to life through stimulating activities and playful interactions. Additionally, children choose books of interest to them from the mobile library. During a 'bear hunt' game, children extend and consolidate their learning of positional language in play. While joyfully describing to peers where to find the bear they have hidden, they copy language used previously by staff, such as 'behind' or 'inside'. Children are very well behaved.
They offer to pour their peers a drink and patiently wait their turn to serve their own snack. Staff provide meaningful praise for these well-established social skills, which encourages children to repeat these positive behaviours.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- help staff further reflect on children's learning priorities and use of available resources during their play to help them achieve their next stage of learning n build on already good teaching opportunities to give clear and consistent messages that support children to consistently make healthy food choices.
- 16 January 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 8 March 2019Good
- 15 December 2015Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Copdock and Washbrook Pre-school
- What it costs
- Funded hours
- Youngest age taken
- Meals
- Nappies
- Waiting list
No dataset holds any of this. Two parents telling us the same thing puts it on the page for whoever looks next.
What to ask them
None of this is in any national dataset and this setting has not published it, which is exactly why it is worth asking.
- What does it cost, all in? What is on top: meals, nappies, late pick-up, and what happens if you are late.
- Can I use my funded hours here? Whether they stretch them over the year, and the minimum days you have to book.
- Is there a place for my child's age? Baby rooms fill first and waiting lists are common.
- Who would my child's key person be? And how long have the staff been there. No dataset holds this and it matters more than anything above.
- Can I visit at a busy time? Mid-morning on a weekday tells you far more than an empty room after hours.
Pre-schools within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.